title: Occupational dermatoses by type of work in Greece.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To elucidate the relationship between seven occupational dermatoses (ODs) and 20 types of work in Greece.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a prevalence epidemiologic study of certain ODs among 4,000 workers employed in 20 types of enterprise, in 104 companies, in 2006-2012, using data from company medical records, questionnaires, occupational medical, and special examinations. The χ(2) test was applied to reveal statistically significant relationships between types of enterprises and occurrence of ODs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A high percentage (39.9%) of employees included in the study population suffered from ODs. The highest prevalence rates were noted among hairdressers (of contact dermatitis: 30%), cooks (of contact dermatitis: 29.5%), bitumen workers (of acne: 23.5%), car industry workers (of mechanical injury: 15%), construction workers (of contact urticaria: 29.5%), industrial cleaning workers (of chemical burns: 13%), and farmers (of malignant tumors: 5.5%). We observed several statistical significant correlations between ODs (acute and chronic contact dermatitis, urticaria, mechanical injury, acne, burns, skin cancer) and certain types of enterprises. There was no statistically significant correlation between gender and prevalence of ODs, except for dermatoses caused by mechanical injuries afflicting mainly men [χ(2) (1) = 13.40, p < 0.001] and for chronic contact dermatitis [χ(2) (1) = 5.53, p = 0.019] afflicting mainly women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prevalence of ODs is high in Greece, contrary to all official reports by the Greek National Institute of Health. There is a need to introduce a nationwide voluntary surveillance system for reporting ODs and to enhance skin protection measures at work.
authors.affiliation: Program of Postgraduate Studies, Health and Safety in Workplaces, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece.
authors.forename: Eleni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zorba
authors.forename: Antony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karpouzis
authors.forename: Alexandros
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zorbas
authors.forename: Theodore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bazas
authors.forename: Sam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zorbas
authors.forename: Elias
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alexopoulos
authors.forename: Ilias
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zorbas
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kouskoukis
authors.forename: Theodoros
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Konstandinidis
keywords: environmental health; occupational dermatoses; occupational epidemiology; occupational exposure; prevention and control